Transparent and flexible films of new segmented polyurethane nanocomposites incorporated by NH2-functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles

In this work, TiO₂ nanoparticles are surface modified by NH₂-terminated organic moieties arised from 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). These nanoparticles are incorporated into ether-based segmented polyurethane (SPU) matrix. MDI is utilized as monomer together with poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO) comonomer for preparing the final polymer as well. The NH₂-functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles are covalently linked to the NCO terminals of the resulting SPU macromolecules during film preparation stage. Therefore, in addition to butylene glycol, these surface modified nanoparticles with enhanced organophilicity could play the role of the second chain extender of NCO-capped SPU macromolecules through formation of urea linkages. Optical and thermal behaviors of the transparent and flexible film (SPU/TiO₂–MDI) is compared with those of unmodified TiO₂ (SPU/TiO₂) and TiO₂-unloaded SPU films. Though the particle loading is only 5 wt.%, incorporation of TiO₂ and TiO₂–MDI nanoparticles into the SPU polymer enhances significantly the light absorption in UV region at 300–400 nm. SEM images of the prepared films clearly show a considerable decrease in particle aggregation for TiO₂–MDI into SPU matrix compared to that of unmodified TiO₂. TG analyses indicate a one-step decomposition pattern with onset temperatures of about 360 and 380 °C for neat SPU and SPU/TiO₂–MDI, respectively. Moreover, DTA thermograms of both nanocomposites show obviously two exothermic phase transitions in the thermal range of 330–440 °C.     

不同晶相结构ZrO2负载铜基催化剂用于二乙醇胺脱氢反应

通过制备不同晶相结构〔单斜相(m-ZrO_2)、四方相(t-ZrO_2)和无定型(a-ZrO_2)〕ZrO_2载体,再通过沉积沉淀法制得Cu/m-ZrO_2、Cu/t-ZrO_2和Cu/a-ZrO_2催化剂,分别用于催化二乙醇胺脱氢合成亚氨基二乙酸反应。采用XRD、氮气物理吸附脱附、XPS、H_2-TPR、CO_2-TPD对催化剂的结构进行了表征。结果表明,Cu/m-ZrO_2催化剂界面更加有利于Cu~+/Cu~0稳定存在,具有更多的碱性位点,且抗氧化性较好。在二乙醇胺脱氢反应中,Cu/m-ZrO_2催化剂性能最好,反应时间为2.5 h,亚氨基二乙酸收率为97.64%。     

Present status and future prospects of plasma sprayed multilayered thermal barrier coating systems

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) play a pivotal role in protecting the hot structures of modern turbine engines in aerospace as well as utility applications. To meet the increasing efficiency of gas turbine technology, worldwide research is focused on designing new architecture of TBCs. These TBCs are mainly fabricated by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) as it is more economical over the electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) technology. Notably, bi-layered, multi-layered and functionally graded TBC structures are recognized as favorable designs to obtain adequate coating performance and durability. In this regard, an attempt has been made in this article to highlight the structure, characteristics, limitations and future prospects of bi-layered, multi-layered and functionally graded TBC systems fabricated using plasma spraying and its allied techniques like suspension plasma spray (SPS), solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS) and plasma spray –physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD).     

基于分形插值的改进趋势面拟合法在地面沉降中的应用

针对区域地面沉降监测点数量有限、分布不均的情况,一般采用空间插值的手段建立表面拟合模型来解决。基于分形插值,采用随机选择迭代函数的思想对传统的趋势面拟合法作出改进,改进后拟合优度系数提高0.03,达到0.995,且改进前后的拟合结果符合显著性检验的要求。实验结果表明:改进前后趋势面拟合法拟合结果满足地面沉降监测的精度要求,改进后方法的拟合优度更高,对现实地面沉降量变化的描绘更加真实,可为沉降灾害评价工作提供更准确的依据。     

Direct Injection of CRISPR/Cas9-Related mRNA into Cytoplasm of Parthenogenetically Activated Porcine Oocytes Causes Frequent Mosaicism for Indel Mutations

Some reports demonstrated successful genome editing in pigs by one-step zygote microinjection of mRNA of CRISPR/Cas9-related components. Given the relatively long gestation periods and the high cost of housing, the establishment of a single blastocyst-based assay for rapid optimization of the above system is required. As a proof-of-concept, we attempted to disrupt a gene (GGTA1) encoding the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase that synthesizes the α-Gal epitope using parthenogenetically activated porcine oocytes. The lack of α-Gal epitope expression can be monitored by staining with fluorescently labeled isolectin BS-I-B₄ (IB4), which binds specifically to the α-Gal epitope. When oocytes were injected with guide RNA specific to GGTA1 together with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and human Cas9 mRNAs, 65% (24/37) of the developing blastocysts exhibited green fluorescence, although almost all (96%, 23/24) showed a mosaic fluorescent pattern. Staining with IB4 revealed that the green fluorescent area often had a reduced binding activity to IB4. Of the 16 samples tested, six (five fluorescent and one non-fluorescent blastocysts) had indel mutations, suggesting a correlation between EGFP expression and mutation induction. Furthermore, it is suggested that zygote microinjection of mRNAs might lead to the production of piglets with cells harboring various mutation types.     

Phenolic Phytoalexins in Rice: Biological Functions and Biosynthesis

Phytoalexins are inducible secondary metabolites possessing antimicrobial activity against phytopathogens. Rice produces a wide array of phytoalexins in response to pathogen attacks and environmental stresses. With few exceptions, most phytoalexins identified in rice are diterpenoid compounds. Until very recently, flavonoid sakuranetin was the only known phenolic phytoalexin in rice. However, recent studies have shown that phenylamides are involved in defense against pathogen attacks in rice. Phenylamides are amine-conjugated phenolic acids that are induced by pathogen infections and abiotic stresses including ultra violet (UV) radiation in rice. Stress-induced phenylamides, such as N-trans-cinnamoyltryptamine, N-p-coumaroylserotonin and N-cinnamoyltyramine, have been reported to possess antimicrobial activities against rice bacterial and fungal pathogens, an indication of their direct inhibitory roles against invading pathogens. This finding suggests that phenylamides act as phytoalexins in rice and belong to phenolic phytoalexins along with sakuranetin. Phenylamides also have been implicated in cell wall reinforcement for disease resistance and allelopathy of rice. Synthesis of phenolic phytoalexins is stimulated by phytopathogen attacks and abiotic challenges including UV radiation. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that biosynthetic pathways including the shikimate, phenylpropanoid and arylmonoamine pathways are coordinately activated for phenolic phytoalexin synthesis, and related genes are induced by biotic and abiotic stresses in rice.     

An adaptive image steganographic scheme based on Noise Visibility Function and an optimal chaotic based encryption method

Steganography is the science of hiding secret message in an appropriate digital multimedia in such a way that the existence of the embedded message should be invisible to anyone apart from the sender or the intended recipient. This paper presents an irreversible scheme for hiding a secret image in the cover image that is able to improve both the visual quality and the security of the stego-image while still providing a large embedding capacity. This is achieved by a hybrid steganography scheme incorporates Noise Visibility Function (NVF) and an optimal chaotic based encryption scheme. In the embedding process, first to reduce the image distortion and to increase the embedding capacity, the payload of each region of the cover image is determined dynamically according to NVF. NVF analyzes the local image properties to identify the complex areas where more secret bits should be embedded. This ensures to maintain a high visual quality of the stego-image as well as a large embedding capacity. Second, the security of the secret image is brought about by an optimal chaotic based encryption scheme to transform the secret image into an encrypted image. Third, the optimal chaotic based encryption scheme is achieved by using a hybrid optimization of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) which is allowing us to find an optimal secret key. The optimal secret key is able to encrypt the secret image so as the rate of changes after embedding process be decreased which results in increasing the quality of the stego-image. In the extracting process, the secret image can be extracted from the stego-image losslessly without referring to the original cover image. The experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme not only has the ability to achieve a good trade-off between the payload and the stego-image quality, but also can resist against the statistics and image processing attacks.     

Multiobjective PSO based adaption of neural network topology for pixel classification in satellite imagery

The proposed work involves the multiobjective PSO based adaption of optimal neural network topology for the classification of multispectral satellite images. It is per pixel supervised classification using spectral bands (original feature space). This paper also presents a thorough experimental analysis to investigate the behavior of neural network classifier for given problem. Based on 1050 number of experiments, we conclude that following two critical issues needs to be addressed: (1) selection of most discriminative spectral bands and (2) determination of optimal number of nodes in hidden layer. We propose new methodology based on multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) technique to determine discriminative spectral bands and the number of hidden layer node simultaneously. The accuracy with neural network structure thus obtained is compared with that of traditional classifiers like MLC and Euclidean classifier. The performance of proposed classifier is evaluated quantitatively using Xie-Beni and β indexes. The result shows the superiority of the proposed method to the conventional one.     

Complexities of digital technology use and the teaching and learning of function

Many argue that digital technologies have the potential to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics. However, the availability of technology is not sufficient to realise this potential. The study reported takes a detailed approach to investigate the utility of the particular offerings of the available technologies in the teaching and learning of a specific area of mathematics, functions. Sixteen affordances identified in the data are described. The complexity of the process involved in resolving a situation where particular affordances would be useful so as they are perceived and enacted is detailed. Finally, a grounded theory framework arising from the data analysis from this study that can be used to explain, predict and guide action in other digital environments is presented.     

Hybrid make-to-stock and make-to-order systems: a taxonomic review

Production planning and control (PPC) systems that employ aspects from both make-to-order (MTO) and make-to-stock (MTS) production control are known as hybrid MTS/MTO systems. While both MTO and MTS separately have been studied extensively, their combined use has received less attention. However, the literature on this topic is growing and this paper shows that the review performed in this paper is an important addition to the field. We categorise relevant literature according to a novel taxonomy and show that hybrid MTS/MTO production control can be used in different contexts. In addition, an overview of the modelling techniques and methods used in these papers is provided. Based on the reviewed literature, relevant research questions and directions for future research are identified. Finally, it is shown that hybrid MTS/MTO production control is prevalent in practice by discussing research with industrial applications. The paper contains an overview of research on hybrid MTS/MTO production control to be used as reference for researchers active in the field, and provides managerial insights and directions for future research on this topic.